New year’s resolutions are a time when Britons have the opportunity to ditch their unhealthiest habits.

More often than not people will set out to lose weight by a trendy diet or by increasing their exercise levels.

However, new research suggests we should be focusing our ‘new year, new you’ intentions elsewhere.

A survey by A. Vogel discovered that looking at our phones before bed tops a list of our unhealthiest habits.

A study by the University of California found that the more time spent browsing on your phone before bed the worse your sleep quality was.

Other bad habits we want to change, but feel powerless to, include not going to bed early enough, too much screen time and eating late at night.

Here is the full list of our 20 top unhealthy habits:

1. Looking at your phone before bed

2. Spending too long on your phone and looking at screens

3. Eating late at night

4. Making excuses not to work out or exercise

5. Eating ZERO fruit or veg in a day

6. Ordering take-aways at weekends

7. Taking sugar in tea and coffee

8. Raiding the fridge after dinner

9. Drinking too much coffee

10. Taking the lift or escalators rather than the stairs

11. Drinking too many fizzy drinks

12. Relying on ready meals and quick fix foods

13. Putting too much salt on your food

14. Driving everywhere rather than walking

15. Secret eating

16. Drinking more than your weekly alcohol units

17. Not brushing your teeth in the morning

18. Parking as close to the shops as possible

19. Never taking off make-up before bed

20. Picking food from your children’s plates

Not getting enough sleep has a knock on effect for several other bad habits.

Dr Becky Spelman, said: “Failing to get enough sleep should not be underestimated in terms of its impact on our habits.

“Most of us should try to get eight or nine hours of good quality sleep every night. However, a lot of us live with chronic sleep deprivation because we’ve got into the habit of staying up late to watch TV, play video games, browse the Internet, or just have one more drink.

“This can play havoc with our metabolism, and make us crave ‘quick fixes’ such as drinks high in caffeine and/or sugar, which may make us feel better in the short term, but only contribute to our feeling worse overall.

“We are also, obviously, less inclined to exercise when we are tired. Any attempt to kickstart a healthier lifestyle should start with ensuring that we are getting enough sleep.”

Tiredness also means we rely on coffee more to get us through the day.

Emma Ross, nutritionist for A.Vogel, said: “Relying on coffee isn’t such a good idea to make it through the day.

“We all have days where we take short-cuts, but making simple, yet small changes such as keeping hydrated and moving away from sugary or caffeine drinks can have a huge positive impact.

“There are natural energy drinks such as A.Vogel’s Balance Mineral Drink that contains electrolytes with calcium and magnesium to support our energy levels more naturally and help reduce tiredness and stress.”